Mariners put O’Flaherty on the roster, demote Dobbs

The Mariners made the first of what figure to be a series of roster moves Wednesday.

Added to the active roster was left-handed pitcher Eric O’Flaherty, who started the year with Class-A Inland Empire but who zipped through the minor league system in a hurry this year.

Gone for the moment is infielder/outfielder Greg Dobbs, a left-handed hitter who is being returned to Triple-A Tacoma.

The Mariners are expecting to be able to another move Thursday, bringing Richie Sexson off the bereavement list with Mike Morse being returned to Tacoma.

The timing is a little up in the air; it is possible it will be another day or so before Sexson, who had twins, a boy and a girl, born to his wife, Kerry, Monday.

O’Flaherty was brought up Tuesday with the thought he would join the team if Rafael Soriano went on the disabled list. Soriano, who has some neck stiffness, talked his way onto the roster, however, and O’Flaherty was prepared to rejoin Tacoma before getting a call Tuesday morning that he was joining the big league roster.

For the moment the Mariners have 13 pitchers and only 12 position players, a ratio that doesn’t figure to last long, so at least one more move is expected in the next few days.